Secretary Duffy praised the pilots.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy (Photo: Department of Transportation)
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said he spoke with the pilots of Southwest flight 2504 following last month’s high-profile incursion in Chicago. The crew initiated a go-around when a Flexjet aircraft improperly crossed the same runway.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report regarding the incident on Tuesday.
“Had that Southwest jetliner touched down, it would have stayed down, and you would’ve had a collision,” Duffy said during a Wednesday “Fox & Friends” interview. “Again a really close call. … [W]e need pilots to pay attention to what air traffic controllers are telling them.”
He added that the Flexjet crew had a “decent amount of experience,” but a process to review their certificates is underway by the Federal Aviation Administration.
In the NTSB’s report, the Flexjet crew noted sun glare that hindered visibility as they turned left onto runway 4L/22R. The crew did not recall seeing any hold short line/pavement markings or any other signs for the runway 31L intersection as they taxied onto 04L/22R.
The cockpit voice recorders on both aircraft were overwritten.
Duffy gave kudos to the Southwest crew during Wednesday’s interview, saying neither pilot wanted to be publicly named.
“I talked to the Southwest pilots after this incident … great people,” he added. The crew told Duffy that they were just “doing their jobs.”
“I appreciate the expertise and excellence of those pilots and their willingness to say … ‘I’m not going to take credit for just doing my job and keeping my passengers safe,’” Duffy continued.
At the time of the incident, the Southwest captain was the pilot flying and the first officer was monitoring, according to the NTSB. Parties to the agency’s investigation include the FAA, Southwest, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, Boeing, and Flexjet.
Both Duffy and President Donald Trump have recently stated that pilots should lose their licenses if they are at fault for incidents and accidents.
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